Tag: nyc

The Knocks. Ever heard of them? If you haven’t, you have been severely deprived of dancey, feel good music! Are they rap? No. Are they rock? No. Are they mainstream? Hellllll no. While many would label under an edm category, they don’t truly fit into any of the predetermined molds, and that’s what makes them so unique and probably one of the most fun duos to listen to, let alone watch perform. Do you like nonstop groovin’, vibin’ music that makes you smile from ear to ear while you’re dancing your ass off? Well that’s exactly what you’re going to get. Ben “B-Roc” Ruttner and James “JPatt” Patterson make up The Knocks, and they are a powerhouse duo from New York ready to take over the world.

We first discovered The Knocks at Northern Nights Music Festival in Piercy, CA in the summer of 2016 and we were instantly hooked to their music, however these guys had been in the music scene many years prior to this festival. Fast forward to fall of 2018 and The Knocks released their highly anticipated album “New York Narcotic” and of what we have been able to notice, the US has been very into it. When they released their “New York Narcotic” tour dates and one of their stops was at the Ace of Spades in Sacramento, us Festival Babes just had to see them perform. What was going to make this tour even more special was that they were also including a live band experience! Like, wow, they really did that for us! We’d also like to point out that their bassist babe, Blu DeTiger, was one of their openers as well as Young & Sick, who was an artist we got familiar with when looking up the M3F festival lineup. Both artists are exceptional and we highly recommend you check them out too.

Ok…back to the show! We showed up to Ace of Spades and made our way to the front and center (which was surprisingly easy to do since everyone was still very spread out throughout the venue) as we got ready for them to come on. The lights start flashing, individual platforms start glowing, the band was in position, and The Knocks started off the night with “New York Narcotic,” a fun, upbeat song that truly seems to embody their whole vibe for this album: addictive highs and lows that you can’t shy away from because of the excitement it gives you. I’d also like to point out that their fashion sense: sooo on point! The girls in the band, guitarist/singer Katie and bassist Blu, showed off everything from flame designed pants to silk dresses and studded white jackets, while The Knocks rocked everything from sequins jackets to jerseys and of course their recognizable black studded, stapled up, skull faced New York Narcotic jacket that we are both obsessed with and need pronto.

The scene was beautiful: smoke machines constantly going off, lights moving in all directions, giant mascot pigeons in tow, and The Knocks and band nonstop dancing, smiling, and just having a good ass time on stage while seeing all of us dancing and singing along to every song. You know how hard that is to do as an artist? To create such satisfying content that your audience does not stop until you walk off the stage?! We were very impressed with their show, and genuinely impressed and ecstatic about the performance they brought for us.

Young & Sick came on stage during the DJ set of the show and it was so entertaining to see him singing and rapping “Wizards of Bushwick” on stage with JPatt in his cheetah and dalmatian outfit! Respect. And yes, The Knocks really do rap and sing, and these boys got some range. Did you know they can play instruments too? Well they do, and we loved watching JPatt and B-Roc both take turns on the keyboard during different songs in the live band portion of the show. They kept us guessing and it made the show that much more invigorating.

They ended the show with the ever popular “Ride or Die” but slowed down at first, with JPatt on the keyboard and B-Roc sitting in the front of the stage, lights dimmed, creating the mood for a final song. As they started to get into the song, they brought it up to tempo, the band came out, and the crowd was in a full-on mesmerized state of mind as we all flowed with the music and sang as loud as we could. With that being one of our personal favorites, we couldn’t help but feel enthralled with happiness and satisfaction.

Some of our other personal favorites they played are: “Room for You,” “Shades,” and of course, “Classic”…but, we love every song, and the ones on this latest album are no exception. To be perfectly honest, the album is fire; it’s groovy, it’s refreshing, and we could tell that the guys were pretty stoked about this album and the reaction it was getting from the audience, and from all over. We left feeling high from the energy and the whole performance and couldn’t believe we finally got to witness them again, and this time being in a local Northern California music venue as opposed to a festival. We are so grateful for the experience we received from that show and are so proud of what The Knocks have created. We were pretty bummed out when we realized we didn’t take any pictures the entire show, but I guess that just shows how into it we were and we loved living in that moment. The West Coast still seems to need to get more on board of this train because we had mentioned this show to many people and only half had heard of these guys. Their music is a good time, literally, and we cannot wait to see what other genius music they come out with next.